Under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Latvian President Raimonds Vējonise, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang and Latvian Ambassador to China Māris Selga signed the Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation between the Government of the People‘s Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Latvia on September 18, 2018.

According to the Agreement, China and Latvia will establish an Intergovernmental Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation and hold regular bilateral meetings to exchange ideas on research and technology cooperation between the two sides. Both countries will be committed to promoting research institutions, universities and enterprises of the two countries to organize and participate in bilateral scientific conferences and exhibitions, facilitate personnel exchanges and technology research in priority areas determined by both countries, and build joint laboratories or joint research centers.

Latvia is an important science and technology partner of China in Central and Eastern Europe. With strong research strength, it has characteristics in the fields of drug research and development, material science, ICT, electronics and so on. China and Latvia will take the opportunity of signing the Agreement and fully leverage the Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation Platform to strengthen mutual understanding and mutual trust between their science and technology communities, push forward pragmatic cooperation between the two sides in the field of research, development and innovation, and boost the economic and social development of the two countries.